NSA can follow nearly everything you do online in real-time

In a report on VentureBeat Edward Snowden's latest relevations uncover that the NSA can basically see nearly everything you do online. This is getting a PR nightmare for the USA. According to the whistleblower, the XKeyscore program enables the NSA to wiretap anyone, almost instantly. They can also see your real-time Internet activity, read your e-mail, monitor your Facebook, and get your IP address by searching for visitors to any specified site.

wiretap anyone, almost instantly, as long as it has their email address

see your real-time Internet activity

read anyone’s email

monitor Facebook chats

see “nearly everything” you do online

get your IP address by searching for visitors to any specified site

The NSA program that does this is called XKeyscore, and it’s a massive big data collection, warehousing, and analysis program that, if we can believe what Snowden is saying, basically lays bare your entire digital self. Essentially, we’re Frodo and Sam, and the NSA is the Eye of Sauron — but more effective, more powerful.

The question is whether or not we can believe him. Those are big, big accusations.

The evidence that Snowden provided to The Guardian is compelling: vast quantities of screenshots that show training materials and actual applications that the NSA has built to enable armchair James Bonds, AKA intelligence analysts, to sort and sift through a vast database of 850 billion events and 150 billion Internet records, with 20+ terabytes being added daily:

There are only two ways the NSA could amass such huge amounts of unencrypted data: by intercepting everything at the ISP level and decrypting in almost-real time any HTTPS or otherwise encrypted transmissions, or by having backdoors in dozens if not thousands of companies’ systems to access data on a regular and continuous basis.

Companies like Google have completely and categorically denied those allegations, saying that “There is no free-for-all, no direct access, no indirect access, no back door, no drop box.”

In a statement to the Guardian, the NSA denied that XKeyscore was accessible to all analysts and said that it was a “lawful foreign signals intelligence collection system,” but did not deny any of the capabilities Snowden claims it has. And the NSA, which has said that 300 terrorists were captured via XKeyscore as of 2008, defended the value of the program.

#4629651 Posted on: 08/01/2013 09:39 AM.. and not you or me unlike some people with inflated ego's would have you believe.

Alex Jones LOL, 'buy my videos!'

Chillin
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#4629653 Posted on: 08/01/2013 09:44 AM

Do you guys have a data retention law ?

Yes and no, mostly no. It depends on the security level of the database. To balance this, most data acquired without a warrant or similar is inadmissible in court unless there are exceptional circumstances.

There's also the civilian aspect:

Unlike the EU,85 Israel does not have a general data retention statute. This means that telecom operators could ostensibly delete communications data promptly after using them for billing purposes. Indeed, a possible interpretation of the purpose limitation provisions in the PPA86 is that such deletion is required by privacy law. To this end, Section 11(e) of the GSSA authorizes the Prime Minister to promulgate rules regarding the retention by a licensee of categories of data according to subsection (b), for a period that he determines. As discussed, such rules, if they have been put in place, remain secret. A similar provision is not found in the Communications Data Act, raising doubts whether telecom operators must (or even may) retain data if not required to do so under the Prime Minister's national security rules.

The question of whether telecom providers are required (or indeed allowed) to retain communications data arose in the Amir Liran v Pelephone case.87 The plaintiff, a lawyer, requested that his two cellular operators delete his communications data after he settled his account. To assure the cellular operators he was not going to challenge their bills at a later stage, Liran was willing to execute a waiver of claims. He argued that retention of his communications data without a specific purpose infringes his privacy rights under the PPA. The Attorney General, who has authority to intervene in litigation in order to represent the public interest, submitted a brief in the case arguing that the Communications Data Act should be interpreted to permit data retention for a reasonable period of time. The Tel Aviv District Court accepted the Attorney General's argument, holding that absent a specific obligation to delete communications data, telecom operators were permitted to retain them. This decision was criticized by commentators, including the current author, who argued that the court misinterpreted the balance struck by the PPA between individual rights and legitimate business interests, and failed to take account of the constitutional status of the right to privacy.88

Chillin
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#4629654 Posted on: 08/01/2013 09:46 AM
And by the way, everything I just said is open and common knowledge. I make no claim to know what goes on behind the scenes.

And like I said, I am mostly for such programs, but they have to have much more civilian oversight and open rulebooks.

#4629660 Posted on: 08/01/2013 09:51 AM
Has Snowden even leaked everything he has yet? It seems he keeps pumping out tidbits when his urgency of "all powerful big brother spying on everyone" would suggest he should do otherwise, like uploading everything he has and then blowing his brains out. It's like he was hoping some country would set him up with a condo for his information.

No, they are looking for very specific indicators of activity which interests them; everything else is pretty much discarded almost immediately.

It's still somewhat of a waste to go that route to begin with, especially when, like you said, much of it is of no value. But that's my argument though, that it's not of any value or concern.

Finally, the NSA is not responsible for nearly all the examples you posted, that is the area of the FBI. The NSA is responsible for collecting intelligence, not dealing with petty online crime.

No, right. But those are (at least piracy) what the average person would fear about. Or their Facebook affair messages or whatever the ****. ISPs are even known to hold logs of up to year on internet traffic.

HOWEVER, open routers/wifi can throw a wrench in that. Most people up to something of a noteworthy threat to the public will at least be doing something as simple as looking for wifi spots, using Tor, and using very heavy encryption - if they're not seeing each other in person and transferring data that way (imagine trying to find a micro SD card). And that's only the tidbits I know of, god knows of other better ways.

(.)(.)
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#4629672 Posted on: 08/01/2013 10:11 AM
Perhaps the world is coming to an end and the us govt is trying to gather as much info of the human race as possible in order to rebuild our civilisation when/if the opportunity presents itself?

SLI-756
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#4629678 Posted on: 08/01/2013 10:24 AM
Humanity wil end up below the earth before getting above the earth into space, down in those tunnels they make with the big machines.

#4629706 Posted on: 08/01/2013 11:22 AM
i am with NSA or what ever organization does this to PROTECT me and my family. well, no chance to know if they use it for private purposes but well, dont know.

harkinsteven
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#4629718 Posted on: 08/01/2013 11:56 AM

i am with NSA or what ever organization does this to PROTECT me and my family. well, no chance to know if they use it for private purposes but well, dont know.

This is NOT to protect your family. Don't be so naive. This is to collect evidence AGAINST you. This has been in place since the 90's. So what have they down to protect against all the stuff that happened since then? They say this is used to track terrorists, well I can bet that any terrorist would not even use a PC or phone to plan anything.

This whole "I've nothing to hide" excuse really annoys me. If I choose to hide something that is MY business and my RIGHT. If I want to live privately then I can do so. You can live freely as long as the Government says so? That is not freedom, that is slavery. Remember government was set up to protect your rights, not to infringe them at every single turn. If people do not stop this now then they will look at this as acceptance and take even more of your rights.

You probably have broke laws that you didn't even know about and they would use this against you if they wished. DO NOT acquiesce to this. I used to think the same, I live a good life, I have nothing to hide etc. But they I started to learn about common law vs statutes and how much of a scam they are and that they are forced on us as "Law" on us. But they are not laws, only rules. But if you consent then it has the force of law.

It comes down to this. Do you want freedom or to be spied on at every step of your life and only have freedom as long you do not break any of the governments rules? Remember these are men and woman like you, they have no authority over you, no body has. We are all equal. Do not let these dictators run your life.

Techio
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#4629721 Posted on: 08/01/2013 12:02 PM
This is NOT to protect your family. Don't be so naive. This is to collect evidence AGAINST you. This has been in place since the 90's. So what have they down to protect against all the stuff that happened since then? They say this is used to track terrorists, well I can bet that any terrorist would not even use a PC or phone to plan anything.

This whole "I've nothing to hide" excuse really annoys me. If I choose to hide something that is MY business and my RIGHT. If I want to live privately then I can do so. You can live freely as long as the Government says so? That is not freedom, that is slavery. Remember government was set up to protect your rights, not to infringe them at every single turn. If people do not stop this now then they will look at this as acceptance and take even more of your rights.

You probably have broke laws that you didn't even know about and they would use this against you if they wished. DO NOT acquiesce to this. I used to think the same, I live a good life, I have nothing to hide etc. But they I started to learn about common law vs statutes and how much of a scam they are and that they are forced us as "Law" on us. But they are not laws, only rules. But if you consent then it has the force of law.

It comes down to this. Do you want freedom or to be spied on at every step of your life and only have freedom as long you do not break any of the governments rules? Remember these are men and woman like you, they have no authority over you, no body has. We are all equal. Do not let this dictators run your life.

Fricken this! ^
Not to move the topic into a conspiracy matter but the thing is, most people are rubbing this off as nothing and moving on with life. The Government will win unless EVERYONE begins to realize what is going on around them.